Most Effective Advice to Generate Ideas for Your Essay
The blinking insertion point cursor on the infamous blank page intimidates some students. Often, the thought of writing a 3000-word essay can cause panic and task avoidance. So, at the last minute, the learner stages frantic study sessions to write a few paragraphs. In the middle, they lose their concentration and creativity. As their memory becomes unreliable, one loses their motivation and abandons the assignment. Do any of the above sentences describe you? We have practical pointers to boost your motivation and generate excellent essay ideas. Here’s how you apply the guidelines.
Choose a topic that interests you
Identify and select a research topic that you find intriguing. Purdue University states that this approach enthuses one to research to completion. Writing about an area of interest motivates learners and makes their work enjoyable. The outcome is also excellent. Remember, your audience can only find your work fascinating if you do. So, when choosing, consider how relevant the topic is to you. Focus on your hometown, family, favorite book or film, or an idea that resonates well with you. Sometimes the instructor provides a list of topics for the students to select. Such an arrangement either eases the process of topic selection or sets limitations. The instructor’s topic list can lack an area that you find interesting. If you feel limited, approach your teachers with paper ideas that you have in mind. Let them approve it for research before you start writing.
If the assignment is open-ended, you need a different approach for topic selection. First, treat it as a learning opportunity but not as meeting a deadline. Ask yourself what you want to know rather than what you can write about? Second, create a few topic ideas that interest you. Sometimes you can lack time, inspiration, or creativity to find topics. That is okay. Ask for help and make a custom writing order to get a well-researched quality paper. Sacred Heart University provides strategies for coming up with great and intriguing topics.
- Consider the classroom readings that you enjoyed.
- Review some of the essays you have written in the past in the course. Ask yourself what areas remain unexplored? What would you like to understand better?
- Look for current affairs about the course. Watch the news and come up with a relevant, current, and fascinating topic.
Establish a goal
Knowing your destination increases your probability of arrival. A goal directs your writing. But when you set a goal, follow, write it down so that it becomes easy to do it. When you accomplish the first goal, you become prepared for the next. A goal can also reduce some pressure from the learner. Consider this example. You are completing a 1500-word assignment over 3 weeks. Then you specify what you want to do each week. In week 1, you can review some journal articles to find ideas to write about. In week 2, you read further, take some notes, and choose a topic. In the final week, you create an outline, finish the initial draft, and redraft. Remember to be realistic with your goal(s).
So how do you establish a clear and actional goal for your essay? Walden University states the need to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Consider your usual routine for writing and ask yourself if you can improve them. Is there a specific element that you dislike about writing? Here are some pointers to help you establish your goal.
- Reflection: What are your past and present writing experiences? What are your strengths? Do you know your learning style?
- Current writing practice: What distractions limit you from generating ideas for writing? Is it technology, environmental factors (noise, light) or late studying
- Personal obstacles: Are you intimidated by a blank page? Do you lack concentration or motivation?
- Ideal writing practice: What aspects of your writing can you improve? What skills can you model?
Brainstorming techniques
An essay brainstorm can begin with a term that describes the subject. An excellent example is the topic of sexual violence. Keep this term in mind, write down an idea that comes to mind. At this point, nothing has to be perfect. Keep listing without erasing or editing. As you continue thinking, strike out some that you think are not researchable. So to brainstorm, consider the following questions.
- What implicit knowledge do I have on the subject?
- Do I have any resources on the topic? Have I read them?
- Are there any other ideas that relate to this topic?
- Is this a current affair? That is, has it been on the news or recently researched?
- What do I want to learn about this subject, and why?
Sometimes students have to meet deadlines and lack the patience for brainstorming. In such instances, you can buy cheap essay online with well-articulated arguments. Despite their low prices, these experts provide high-quality papers based on empirical evidence. They also have tutors who coach students through the various aspects of brainstorming.
Draw a map of new ideas
Most scholars develop ideas by ordered lists. Others prefer writing them in paragraphs. But, every learner has his own needs and learning style. Are you a visual learner? Then, understand that how to generate ideas in a way that you understand is different. An idea map can help you. MIT recommends using diagrams that show the relationship between concepts. This approach allows any visual learner to get more ideas without risking confusion. Follow these steps to create your ideas web.
- Place the theme or subject at the center and enclose it in a circle. Using a ruler, draw five or six lines extending from it.
- At the end of these short lines, write any essay topic ideas that come to mind and enclose them in circles.
- Continue doing this for subtopics.
- Using different sheets of paper, do this until you exhaust what is in your mind about the subject. You should have something similar to this illustration.
Read and listen
Students from various states in the country send me emails asking where do you get your ideas from? Well, the answer is simple. Learn the art of effective reading and active listening. Experts assert that readers become skillful writers, and so do listeners. To master the skill of reading, you must learn its various approaches. First, teach yourself to speed read and know when to use the technique. Second, learn to scan, which improves your research process. Third, know how to read to learn and retain new knowledge. These three approaches improve how you think, research, write and prepare for tests. Then again, active listening is not hearing. It involves a lot of brain activity. Like muscles, prepare your mind. Preparation guarantees improved listening. If you want more essay ideas, your listening skills should go beyond the classroom. If studying, understand what you are reading as it is also part of listening.
Use different writing exercises to boost imagination
Creative writing gets a person out of their comfort zone. It pushes you to discover alternatives or fresh perspectives on various topics. Consider a topic on your favorite football team. Now and then, a lack of motivation can also thwart your creative imagination. You can pay for essays from premium essay services and save time and effort. These exercises help clarify thoughts and narrow down your list of ideas.
Digital resources such as the internet are also a source of ideas for school assignments. But, in the information age, you cannot use every article that you come across. Evaluate every source of information you get for authority, accuracy, and relevance. You need information literacy skills to get the right data. Get the right training or find expert help online.
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